The Great Outdoors Film Festival accompanies the The Drakensberg Trail Festival which is a 3-day event from Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th December, at the magnificent Alpine Heath Resort in the Northern Drakensberg. There will be 5 race distances, 5, 10, 25, 42 and 80KM, as well as an expo, race village and film festival.

Our goal is to promote adventure and exploration of the outdoors by featuring the best short films from home and abroad, in a celebration of cinematic talent and courageous endeavor. Viewers will be inspired by submissions from local filmmakers, adventurers and athletes that capture and celebrate the culture of the South African outdoors scene, as well as international films showcasing the spirit of travel and adventure.

There will be screenings of short adventure films from SA and the rest of the world, held on the large outdoor screen as well as a small exhibition of photos.

Awards & Prizes

The Great Outdoors Film Festival is an opportunity for videographers and content creators from all around the world to showcase their work and win a variety of prizes including sunglasses, all expenses paid trips and more.

Rules & Terms

Film Festival
– Your film must be outdoor/adventure focused.
– In order to submit a film, you must own the rights or have permission from the owner.
– Any Foreign film that is not in English must have English subtitles.
– Not all the submissions are selected for the official competition. Our Judges are free to make their own choices and no answers will be given about not selected films.
– Submitting your movie, you authorize The Great Outdoor Film Festival to use, distribute and share the film poster, trailer, synopsis and movie stills in our social media and at our live screening.
– Films can be available online and still be entered in the competition for our festival.
– Multiple submissions and multiple category submissions are accepted.
– Shorts must be less than 60 minutes.
– We do not require premiere status.

Photography Contest
– The max acceptable image size is 15mb and can be submitted as jpeg/png.
– In order to submit a photo, you must own the rights or have permission from the owner.
– Not all the submissions are selected for the official competition. Our Judges are free to make their own choices and no answers will be given about not selected photos.
– Submitting your movie, you authorize The Great Outdoor Film Festival to use, distribute and share the photo across our social media and website.
– Photographers of any skill level, and photos taken on any camera or device will be accepted.
– You may lightly grade and edit the original photos.
– Submissions are online only and a maximin of 15 photos can be entered.

Each submission must come with :
- A title
- The creatives name